News

Former WWE Tag Team Champion Brian Christopher (Lawler) Has Passed Away at 46 Years of Age

By John Canton • Published 29th July 2018
TJR Wrestling

Brian Christopher Lawler, who was most known by WWE fans as Grandmaster Sexay as part of the Too Cool tag team, committed suicide while in jail on Saturday and was moved to a hospital in Memphis, Tennessee where he has died today (Sunday).

The initial report came from Pro Wrestling Sheet earlier on Sunday morning. They noted that Brian was not expected to recover. Brian was 46 years old. Brian was the son of WWE Hall of Famer Jerry Lawler and his real name was Brian Christopher Lawler.

Shortly after the Pro Wrestling Sheet report, PWInsider reported that “Lawler’s situation is dire and he is not expected to recover.” They noted that Brian’s family was called to say their goodbyes to him.

TMZ Sports noted that Brian’s family was there in his last moments.

Lawler’s mother, Kay, tells TMZ Sports Brian passed away Sunday surrounded by family and friends after being placed on life support Saturday night following a suicide attempt in jail. He was surrounded by his father, Jerry Lawler, his brother, Kevin, and other family.

Brian Lawler was in jail due to a DUI and evading an arrest earlier this month. He had legal issues for many years.

WWE posted this on their website:

WWE is saddened to learn that Brian Christopher Lawler, who is best known in WWE as Too Cool’s Grandmaster Sexay, has passed away. Lawler, who is the son of WWE Hall of Famer Jerry “The King” Lawler, competed during the height of the Attitude Era. WWE extends its condolences to Lawler’s family, friends and fans.

Kevin Lawler, who is Jerry’s other son and Brian’s brother, noted on Facebook that Brian died at around 3:45pmCT.

Kevin also shared this photo of the Lawler boys.

Here’s more info on Brian’s death from Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer:

Lawler, 46, hung himself in his jail cell at the Hardeman County jail in Tennessee and was rushed to the hospital and put on life support. He was pronounced brain dead earlier this morning.

Lawler had been in jail since a July 7 DUI arrest that was reported, which included him not immediately surrendering to police. He was held on $40,000 bond and bond wasn’t posted to release him.

His father and a family friend had been working on getting him to a rehab center but Brian Lawler didn’t know when he was going to be released from prison.

During Brian’s WWE career, he was a one-time WWE Tag Team Champion with Scotty 2 Hotty in the Too Cool tag team. He worked for WWE from 1997 to 2001, was brought back in 2004 briefly and worked elsewhere for the majority of his career.

We send our thoughts and condolences to Brian’s family, friends and fans.